SUPPLY CHAIN STANDARD SEPTEMBER 2008
www.supplychainstandard.com
www.supplychainstandard.com
50 Poland Street, London W1F 7AX Tel 020 7970 then 4-digit extension Fax 020 7970 4119 ● Editor Malory Davies FCILT (4100) malory.davies@centaur.co.uk ● Reporter Jessica Davies (4184) jessica.davies@centaur.co.uk ● Online News
Reporter Lucy Tesseras (4813) lucy.tesseras@centaur.co.uk ●Contributing Editor, Supply Chain Nick Allen (01444 467 307) nick.allen@supplychainintelligence.co.uk ●Contributing Editor Property Liza Helps (01449 673 952) mesquita@tinyworld.co.uk
● Art Editor Steve Lillywhite (4492) steve.lillywhite@centaur.co.uk ● Display Advertising Manager Mark Judd (4441) mark.judd@centaur.co.uk ● Head of Sponsorship Rhiannon Spurgeon (4106) rhiannon.spurgeon@centaur.co.uk
● Account Director Selina Tickle (4486) selina.tickle@centaur.co.uk ● Senior Advertisement Sales Executive Mauro Marenghi (4122) mauro.marenghi@centaur.co.uk ● Advertisement Sales Executive Ben Tweedy (4204)
ben.tweedy@centaur.co.uk ● Recruitment Director Matt Comley (4110) matt.comley@centaur.co.uk ● Recruitment Advertising Manager Michael Robertson (4188) michael.robertson@centaur.co.uk ● Recruitment Sales Executive
Letitia Beynon (4439) letitia.beynon@centaur.co.uk ● Administrator Johanna Parsons (4139) johanna.parsons@centaur.co.uk ● Marketing Executive Samantha McCarthy (4257) samantha.mccarthy@centaur.co.uk ● Production
Tony Kempster (4425) tony.kempster@centaur.co.uk ● Publisher Dan King (4854) dan.king@centaur.co.uk ● Printer Williams Press ● Publisher Centaur Media plc ISSN 1353-5595 ● Circulation enquiries 020 7292 3758 lmcirc@centaur.co.uk
Supply Chain Standard is published by Centaur Media plc. The views expressed by contributors and correspondents are their own and responsibility for the contents of the magazine rests solely with the editor. Copyright 2008
by Centaur Media plc, St Giles House, 50 Poland Street, London W1F 7AX, UK. ISSN 0968 – 9001
Opinions expressed are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily imply that such opinions are held by the publishers. Although every effort will be made to ensure the accuracy of all information published, the
publishers cannot accept responsibility for claims made by contributors and advertisers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the publishers.
© 2008 Centaur Media plc.
Environment
or profits?
Green logistics has been top of the agenda for supply chain
professionals in the UK for some time now. Marks & Spencer
took a lead with its “Plan A” and it is now hard to find a
company that doesn’t have an environmental strategy of some kind.
In fact, Scala Consulting chose the issue for its annual logistics
debate for the second year in a row.
But on the other side of the Atlantic minds are being focused on
how to deal with harsh economic realities. According to Reuters,
American car giant Chrysler is telling suppliers that it wants to cut
its supply chain costs by 25 per cent – a huge amount.
Last year was the worst in a decade for US car and light truck sales
and Chrysler has been feeling the pain. Chrysler is now, of course, a
private company and under no obligation to disclose its financial
results. Nevertheless, US analysts reckon its losses last year
amounted to some $1.6 billion, while the estimate for the first quarter
of this year is about $500m.
So you can understand why Chrysler wants to save money in its
supply chain. The question is how do you save that much?
Well, it appears that Chrysler has ruled out a 25 per cent price cut
from suppliers. Instead it is reported to want to focus on maintaining
stable production schedules and reducing complexity and parts.
Clearly, it has a mountain to climb to meet this target but what does it
mean for the green agenda? There are some measures that are good for
both the environment and the wallet – saving fuel is an obvious one.
But as Scala’s senior partner Bob Diplock (a self-confessed sceptic)
told debate delegates: “We must be sure that environmental
improvement measurements are such that we can
demonstrate improvements while delivering better service at
same or lower costs.”
It is evident that the challenge for companies, particularly in the
manufacturing sector, is getting tougher – going green is not so easy if
you are also struggling to restore your profitability.
MALORY DAVIES FCILT
EDITOR
SCS:CONTENTS 03
NEWS ANALYSIS 4
EUROPEAN SUPPLY
CHAIN EXCELLENCE
AWARDS 6
VIEWPOINT:
Penelope Ody,
Peter Bartram. 8
ROUND TABLE 12
SUPPLY CHAIN
TRANSFORMATION 16
FEATURE:
Collaboration 17
Collaboration is the word on
everyone’s lips but how
effective are companies at
working together?
FEATURE: Automotive
Supply Chains 20
The green agenda and rising
fuel prices mean that the
automotive industry is facing
fundamental changes.
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.